The Denver Broncos have won three straight games and are riding a major high as the month of October kicked off with a bang. A refreshing beatdown of the Las Vegas Raiders pushed the Broncos to 3-2 on the season, and there has been so much fallout from that big win that it's almost been completely forgotten that the Broncos deactivated tight end Greg Dulcich for the first time this season.
Dulcich, a third-round pick in the 2022 NFL Draft, has been a major disappointment through his first three NFL seasons, largely to no fault of his own. Dulcich has struggled with hamstring injuries dating back to his rookie minicamp, and he missed almost the entire 2023 season as a result of that and a foot injury late in the year. But now, Dulcich is fully healthy and still not making an impact for the Broncos, which has presented a bigger (and longer-term) problem.
Could the Broncos end up cutting or trading Greg Dulcich soon?
Somewhat lost in the shuffle of everything else that took place over the weekend is the fact that Dulcich was a healthy scratch against the Raiders. The Broncos opted instead for tight end Lucas Krull, who had one reception for five yards but made an impact as a blocker as well as on special teams.
Interestingly enough, this game against the Raiders is where we've seen the most substantial involvement from the tight ends this season as Adam Trautman had a nice catch and run on a play-action boot, Krull had his one catch, and then Nate Adkins also had a nice catch in the win. And all of those guys played a role in the running game as well.
The presence of veteran Donald Parham Jr. on the practice squad along with Dulcich effectively being benched sort of makes you wonder if this could be the end of the line for him as a Bronco. Dulcich had one game this season in which he was targeted a whopping eight times but he had just three receptions. He's had drop issues and blocking issues (especially against the Jets) and the Broncos were obviously fed up.
The interesting thing about Dulcich is that he was not drafted by Sean Payton. Although Payton is not the general manager, he has final say with personnel. General manager George Paton did draft Dulcich, but at some point, the Broncos are going to have to wonder whether the juice is worth the squeeze here. They have not gotten any good contributions from Dulcich since his rookie year in 2022.
As much as we've all wanted to see Dulcich succeed in Denver, he's not been able to stay healthy, he's not made an impact in the passing game when actually on the field, and now he's been benched.
The Broncos have three players eligible to come off of injured reserve in the near future: OT Mike McGlinchey, RB Audric Estimé, and CB Damarri Mathis. I would not be shocked in the slightest to see Dulcich cut in favor of one of those guys.